DHAKA – Several thousand Rohingya on Friday morning gathered at camps in Cox’s Bazar to demand justice for the August 2017 Myanmar military crackdown.
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh say they seek justice, rights and sustainable and dignified repatriation.
Rohingya protesters braved rain and mud at the camps in Ukhia and Teknaf – where over a million largely Muslim refugees live in squalor – to mark Genocide Remembrance Day on August 25.
“We want our justice and citizenship rights and to be repatriated to our original land,” Sayed Ullah of the Rohingya representative committee told The Irrawaddy.
Placards read, “Justice delayed is justice denied” and “The genocide victims deserve justice” and protesters chanted, “Our country is Arakan”, “We want to return home” and “We want justice”.
Rohingya activist Rimas Khan urged women to educate their daughters.
“Rohingya women should take responsibility to unite the community and sustain the future of the Rohingya,” she said.
Six years ago over 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh, joining hundreds of thousands of other Rohingya who had left previously.
The largest rally was organized by the Rohingya representative committee at the Lambashia camp.
Addressing the rally, Rohingya leader Solim Ullah said Myanmar’s regime was opting for trickery to start repatriation, saying they would appeal to the international community.
The Bangladeshi authorities reported no incidents between rival Rohingya groups.
“All the rallies were peaceful,” said Md Shamsud Douza, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner.
Refugees International called upon the United States and other countries to sustain support for humanitarian and accountability efforts for the Rohingya.
“We urge an increase in the resettlement of Rohingya to the United States and other countries. And we call upon other countries to increase education and livelihood opportunities that will enable the Rohingya community to thrive. We urge global action to pressure Myanmar’s military junta, through further coordinated sanctions and arms embargoes, to allow the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya to their homeland,” it stated.
The US embassy in Dhaka stated that genocidal actions by Myanmar’s military forced around 750,000 Rohingya to flee with the few belongings they could carry.
It said it “remains committed to finding solutions to the crisis, justice for its victims, and accountability for the perpetrators of these atrocities, through targeted sanctions, international pressure, and support to the national and international courts taking action against those responsible”.
“Until conditions in Burma improve, we call upon the international community to continue providing humanitarian aid to one of the world’s most vulnerable and marginalized populations,” the US statement said.
Since 2009, the US said it has accepted 13,000 Rohingya from the region, including Bangladesh.
UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, called for a renewed commitment from the international community for financial support to sustain the humanitarian response and political support to find solutions for nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
The UNHCR stated that the Rohingya refugees have formed the backbone of the humanitarian response over the past six years.
“A dignified and sustainable return to Myanmar remains the primary solution to this crisis. Rohingya refugees continue to tell us they want to return to Myanmar when it is safe for them to do so voluntarily,” its statement said.
